Attachment for signal-operating means



' 1,642,237 Sept. 13, 1927. 4 H L. FURR ATTACHMENT FOR SIGNAL OPERATING MEANS Filed Dec. SC 1925 Patented Sept. 13, 1927.

1 UNITED STATES] HARRY L; 1mm; of nAnnIsoNBtme, 'vmemn nssrenos To mum AiiToMArIo PATENT omen SIGNAL c0.,'o'r wILMINGToN' DELAWARE; A c mmunionor DEMWARE;

ATTACHMENT FOR- SIGNAL-OI ERL'II'NG MEANS.

Application filed December 30,- lesm Serial No. 78399;

vehicle is, about to turn, whether it be to disclosed in my .73 mg column.

signal to neutral position;

the right orleft.

As herein shown the improvement is applied to a signal of the type which is operated by the signal operating mechanism prior U. 5. Letters Patent No. 1 5035040, dated July 29, 1924, but said improvement is in no sense limited to use with the particularformof signal operating mechanism and signal as re-ferredto in said patent, but may be employed with other kinds of signal devices, as will be obvious.

In my prior patent referred to, the signal comprised an indicating device such as an arrow, which is pivotally mounted for movement on a motor car to indicate by pointing to the right,- or to the left, the direction in which the car was about to turn, such signal being so moved by a manually operated device, located on the steer- After the signal was set manually so that the arrow pointed to the left, or to the right, movement of the steering Wheel to cause the car to move straight ahead operated automatically to restore the Such, neutral position'was, for example, one in which the indicating arrow was arranged vertically with its pointed or front end-directed downwardly. In signal devices of this'character the connection from the manually operated lever on the steering post was conveniently the form of av wir'e of more or less flex-i bility, which was enclosed in a guiding tube; and it was necessary to provide tor a number of bends or deflections inthe wire and its guiding tube between the point of operation of the signal, and said signal. When the manually operated device was-.mohed one direction the wire was subjected. to a a pull, whichhad a tendency to stretch the wire, whereas when said device was moved in the opposite directlon the wire was pushed towards'fthe signalfwith the cause quent tendency to biiclrlev the wire, :or to increase the frictional resistance between the wire and its enclosing tube. v

It is a well known factthatmotor vehicles when parked are frequently handled mischievous children and'others, and with a signal device of the character referred to,

meddlesomepersons will frequently catch hold of the arrow andjhovej it fro'm one side or the other, thereby placing an unusual thrust upon the connecting wire; with atendency tobend the wire and its easing, which in practice has frequently happened. In order to prevent bending of the connectmg" w re by unauthorized. persons, I have provided a sli-pconnection between the visoible signal: and its operating wine, with yielding means'operating on] said connec: tion, whereby should the indicating signal be; turned by hand by grasping the signal, such connection will yield, and; strain tending to bend or otherwise distort the wire will be applied tossaid wire. In the preferred form of the invention'the slip connection referred to is embodied in a cohstruetion in which yielding meansmaintains a frictional connection between the operating'arm for the stem of the signal and the ower end of the latter. I The ,inve'ntion will best; be understood from the following detailed description of the parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which w Fig. 1 is a rear elevation ofthe signaL illustrating it in neutral position in full lines and position to indicate a turn to the left in dottedlines; r

ig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; n Fig; 3 is a sectional View; somewhat enlagged, taken longitudinal-1y through Fig.2;

E 4 is a plan view; Fig. 5 is an inverted sli%eonneotion:;

ig. 6 is a detailed perspective view oat the b idge e e; a 1 v is a perspective view of the operatmg arm. H s

As; shown in Fig. 1,- the signal comprises an arrow 9, which is mounted rotatably upon f a ooluim-n or tubular support ,4, which is rigidly secured to acuirved pedestal or base 5. the latter being liasten'ed by screws 6-, or the like, to one oif the fenders 8 of the car. The indicating element 2 of the signal is, as shown, preferably in the for-m of an arrow and made to'liave its front face covered line position illustrates the signal turned 90 to the left to indicate a left hand turn of the vehicle.

The indicator 2 has a rearwardly extending tubular port-ion 12, which fits within a thimble 10, which is rotatably mounted in the head 14. The rear portion of the thimble 10 is provided with gear teeth 16 which mesh with a segmental gear 18, which is provided with an angular portion 20 having a perforation through which is passed a rod 22, said rod having its head riveted so as to be rigidly secured to the segmental gear 18.

The rod 22 extends centrally through the head 14, and is surrounded by the column 4. The lower end of the column L is threaded to receive clamping nuts 24, 26, and interposed between said nuts is a metal washer 30, having its upper surface curved to fit within the curved inside surface of the pedestal 5. A washer 31 is interposed between said pedestal and the upper nut v 2a, so that when the nut 26 .is screwed upwardly on the thread of the column 4, the washers 30, 31, and pedestal 5 are all clamped between the nuts 24 and 26.

Projecting downwardly from suitable apertures in the washer 30 are two spaced parallel guide pins 34. These pins are surrounded by spiral springs 35, which are confined on the pins between the washer 30, and a bridge piece 40, whose ends are preferably slotted as at ll in order to move freely on the guide pins, with capacity for tilting movement thereon. The bridge piece l0 is provided centrally with an aperture 42, which receives the outer end of the rod 22, and said rod is provided with a rigid pin 37, which passes through a hole in the rod and projects upon opposite sides thereof. The central portion of the bridge piece 40 is bent upwardly, as shown at 43, and an operating arm-50, which is provided at one'end with a transversely bent head 51 and slot 52, is interposed between the lower face of the bridge piece 40 and the pin 37, the arm 50 when in normal position projecting at right angles to the bridge piece, as shown in Fig. 5. When the parts are as sembled as thus described, the bridge piece is arranged horizontally, as shown in Fig. 8, and its slotted ends embrace the end portions of the guide rods 34, with the springs 35, 35, compressed between the ends of the bridge piece and the outer face of the washer 30, while the lever 50 is pressed by the springs acting through the bridge piece against the pin 37. Such pressure is, of course, yieldable in its nature, and may be overcome by a rotation of the arm.

The arm 50 is connected at its outer end portion with the wire 54, which latter connects said arm with the manually operable signal device on the steering post, or with any other suitable signal operating device. When the .wire is pulled, the arm 50 is moved from left to right, as viewed in Fig. 5, and in such movement the springs are sufliciently strong to maintain engagement between the transversely bent end of the lever 50 and the pin 37, and, accordingly, the pull on the arm is thus transmitted to the rod 22 and thence to the signal to turn the same into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, for example. As the bridge is moved its bent portion acts against the sides of the notch 43 in the bridge 40 and causes the same to rise, compressing the springs 35 so that very little power in the restoring operation is required to move the signal to neutral position again. 1 The same operation would take place if the wire were pushed so as to move the arm from its position as shown in Fig. 5, to the left, toset the signal in a position opposite from that indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, to denote a ri ht hand turn of the vehicle.

ln the event that the arrow 2 should be grasped by the hand of an unauthorized person and turned to the right or left, the

frictional engagement between the pin 37 and the end of the arm 50, which is less than the frictional engagement between the upper face of said arm and the lower surface of the bridge 40, would merely cause an.

idle movement'of the rod 22 without transmitting such movement to the arm and connecting wire M. Such movement of the signal, accordingly, would not tend to buckle the wire, or bend it or its tubing, and hence no harm would be done to the apparatus by such unauthorized movement of the signal. It will be apparent that the operation of the device for its intended purpose is entirely dependent upon the fact that the frictional engagement between the pin 37 and the interior of the bent over portion 51 of the arm 50 is less than the frictional resistance ofi'ered to movement between the upper face of the bent end 51 of the lever and the interior of the recess 43 of the bridge piece 40. f

The improvement is a very important one in devices of this character, because of the well known tendency of boys, and persons who are mischievously inclined, to tamper with the parts of motor vehicles while said vehicles are being parked on the street, and much injury is done to the equipment and parts of motor vehicles by such unauthorized handling and interference. With the present device, it will be impossible for a person to turn the indicator 2 by hand and to transmit such turning movement back through the arm 50 to the connecting wire 54:, the other end of which wire is normally not free to move, but is secured against movement by devices associated with the manually controlling means. Such move- IOU ment of the indicator, accordingly, instead of moving the wire and causing bends therein, will merely cause an idle rotatory movement of the rod 22 relatively to the arm 50,

" but without causing any motion whatever thereto to set the signal, a'stem connected with said arm and a signal arranged to be rotated through the movement of said arm and stem, and a yieldable connection between said arm and stem, said connection adapted to yield upon attempted movement of the signal by an-unauthorized person and thus prevent distortion of said flexible connection.

2. An attachment for the operating means for signals comprising an arm, a flexible connection attached to said arm for transmitting movements thereto to set the signal, a rod or stem connected therewith, and means whereby through the movement of said arm and rod or stem the signal may be rotated, and yielding means permitting rotation of said rod without movement of the arm when the signal device is turned by direct engagement of the hand therewith,

said means being rigid and unyielding when the signal is operated in normal manner.

3. An attachment for the means for operating signals comprising, in combination, a rotary stem, means for imparting motion therefrom to the signal, a pin carried by said stem, a bridge piece movable on the stem, an arm having a transversely bent portion interposed between a similar bent portion of the bridge piece and said stern, and yielding devices for causing said bridge piece to force said arm a ainst said pin.

4. In an attachment or the operating device of signals, signal rotating means including a rotary stem, a transversel rojecting portion carried thereby, a liridge slidable upon said stem, an operating arm having a transversely bent end receiving said stem, springs for causing said bridge to yieldingly force said arm a ainst said projecting portion, and a flexible connection extending from said arm to suitable operating means.

5. An attachment of the classrdescribed comprising, in combination, a rotatable stem, connections therefrom to an indicator, a projection carried by said stem, parallel guide pins, springs carried by said pins, a bridge piece having a central aperture to receive said stem, and end slots to receive said pins, said bridge bein provided with a central recess, an arm having a transversely bent end portion and perforated to receive said stem, said arm being interposed between said bridge and said projection, and 'a flexible connection between said arm and signal operating means, the parts being so constructed and arranged that upon turning of said signal by the direct application of pressure by the hand thereto the stem will rotate and its projection be moved relatively to the arm Without imparting movement to said arm and said flexible connection.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this th day of December A. D.

HARRY L. FURR. 

